Just Back 8/25-9/2

[DisDreaming4116]

I probably read/checked the boards at least 10 times per day from the 160 day mark (when I booked our trip) until the day we left. Now, this is my first time on since then. Strange.

We had such a nice time. A last minute change had my Mom take my wife's place and no issues with not changing the reservation.

People have said it over and over but it is ABSOLUTELY true. Keep. Refreshing. For. FastPass+. We park hopped a few days and made many cancellations to our pre-trip FastPass selections and it didn't matter. Refreshed the screen two or three times and consistently got better times/attraction choices.

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party was unbelievable. I don't particularly care much for Halloween in general but between the parade (x2), the fireworks, a little trick-or-treating, a couple rides and people watching, it was the greatest night at WDW in my life. Wow. We didn't arrive at MK until 7:05 PM since we were at EP earlier in the day and took a long nap. Honestly, we did everything we wanted to, had time to spare and most importantly, the kids, DD10 and DD3, weren't tired nor crabby. We stayed until 12:05 AM.

Was great to see TheTimTracker at Hollywood Studios and the DIS team at the first day of F&W. DD10 and I got a picture with our favorite Ryno.

With no one in our group a fan of thrill rides, Hollywood Studios was just a 5 hour park, and that included back to back Frozen Sing Along shows. (DD3 had to go potty and missed the snowy ending and we had to see the show again). lol

We had the QS meal plan and that served us well this trip, even if we did have to use 16 snack credits before leaving. Based on recommendations here, really enjoyed new restaurants (for us) Satuli Canteen, Cinderella's Royal Table and Pecos Bill.

The tie-dye/rainbow cheesecake is back at POP Century!! They had it last May when we were there but it was more like dry cake and it's back to the moist, cheesecake recipe. I brought 8 containers home! So good!

Pandora must be seen during the day and night. Very different vibes. Flight of Passage is unreal. Even though I had my eyes closed for 60% of the duration, it was fantastic. I just couldn't handle watching the drops.

Great cast member interaction all the trip. From POP Century, to Guest Relations and throughout the parks.

What a great trip! (And I became an AP for the first time. EEK!)

Nate

 

[crazycatlady]

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for the review!

Were there any QS you would not recommend? Also, were you able to get 4th and 5th FP+s for the hard to get rides (TT, Frozen, Soarin, TSMM, etc.)?

 

[mamamelody2]

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for sharing!
I have been watching lots of vlogs, and I'd be thrilled to see any vloggers at WDW, especially TheTimTracker!
We also have the QSDP for our upcoming trip. Looking forward to it!

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for the review!

Were there any QS you would not recommend? Also, were you able to get 4th and 5th FP+s for the hard to get rides (TT, Frozen, Soarin, TSMM, etc.)?

I usually don't mind Cosmic Rays but I wasn't impressed this trip but typically what you see is what you get with them. We were able to get 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th FP+ for Soarin, TSMM, Navi River Journey and Frozen. I didn't obsess and spend every waking second refreshing, but rather when the kids would go to the bathroom, we were waiting for food, etc. and had no problems. I (almost) felt bad seeing people enter 60 minute lines knowing I just got a FP+ for 4 people, one minute earlier.

 

[bladiator]

I usually don't mind Cosmic Rays but I wasn't impressed this trip but typically what you see is what you get with them. We were able to get 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th FP+ for Soarin, TSMM, Navi River Journey and Frozen. I didn't obsess and spend every waking second refreshing, but rather when the kids would go to the bathroom, we were waiting for food, etc. and had no problems. I (almost) felt bad seeing people enter 60 minute lines knowing I just got a FP+ for 4 people, one minute earlier.

Do you think this is indicative of all trips or because this was the Labor Day weekend awesomeness that it is?

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Do you think this is indicative of all trips or because this was the Labor Day weekend awesomeness that it is?

Not sure. At times throughout the trip, it felt very busy and according to the Touring Plans wait times, the main attractions did have long waits.

 

[housemartin71]

We were there the exact same dates and most CMs we spoke to said the parks were not busy. But not busy to a CM probably is something different than to me.

We didn't have much trouble with lines or getting additional FPs except for the ones you'd expect, FoP, SDMT and to a lesser extent test track and FEA. We did FEA standby at 1115 and waited about 10 minutes.